New business brings new opportunity, and Nielsen Audio, acquired at the end of September 2013, is doing just that. Today, Nielsen is sharing with clients and the industry the first in a series of investments we’ll be making in our newly acquired audio business in the second half of 2014.

First, we plan to create a more stable data sample by expanding the panel size in the portable people meter (PPM) markets where the need is greatest. This will increase our overall PPM panel by approximately 6 percent, with most of the expansion taking place in markets 31-48. (The average increase across these markets will be approximately 20%.)

We’re also working to include in our panel those demographics that are typically challenging to recruit. By investing in sample improvements to recruit the hardest to reach demos where it is needed most our sample will be even more representative of the overall U.S. population, further enhancing our ability to provide our clients with the most accurate measurement of audio reach and engagement.

Finally, we’re looking to improve in-station monitoring of PPM encoding—the audio codes that only a PPM can capture and identify which stations a consumer is listening to—by automating alerts and adding additional monitoring sites.

"We created this action plan around the core broadcast radio business following a series of conversations with our clients,” said Mitchell Habib, Chief Operating Officer, Nielsen. “As we make progress against the plan we will share additional insight into our investments."